Spring is sprung?

Time seems to be flying by for our family right now. We whiz through the week without really even knowing what day it is until Friday hits and then we seem to look around at each other and ask with disbelief "It's Friday again already?". We have lots going on right now so blogging was the first thing to lose priority. I thought I'd catch up a bit by posting some photos of what has been happening in our yard. Our back walnut tree has been playing host to a few varieties of birds. One morning it was filled with Bohemian Waxwings. One of them flew into our sunporch window and did not recover. It was such a gorgeous thing that we couldn't resist taking some photos. Not sure if it is considered PC to post dead bird photos so I won't but we were really impressed by its colourful tail feathers and especially the six tiny little red feathers it had on each wing. Oh, why not...a picture is worth a thousand words, after all. :-)Isn't it beautiful? Then the Robins came in and took over the tree for awhile and now the crows seem to have marked it as their hangout.Yesterday I started searching out some dandelions to use for a bit of a Spring cleanse. I eat the leaves and use the roots for tea. All the better for ensuring my neighbours think I'm nutty. ;-) I think I'm the only one in the neighbourhood actually looking forward to dandelion season. The fruit trees are pruned except for the apricot and cherries. The garden beds are ready to be planted, the first batch of peas are in and my garlic (planted in November) is starting to grow. I'm not putting compost on top of each bed this year. I'm saving it in the recycled bins S brought me from the dump and then can top dress as needed or make compost tea. This photo shows my mulched beds and I just can't express how much I love mulch. When I first moved here 10 years ago I didn't know about mulching, each Spring I spent hours and hours just trying to get rid of the weeds that absolutely covered the soil. Now, with permanent beds, good pathways and mulch put on each Autumn, I find garden prep to be pretty minimal.

Here is a closer up photo. The compost bins are at the back and still in the process of being emptied out. Everywhere in the front yard smells of violets right now. I LOVE that smell!

And the Lupins are starting to pop up everywhere again. It won't be long until the yard looks like this again and I feel the urge to re-read Miss Rumphius with the boys.